Richard Bong Air Force Base

Infobox Airport
name = Richard Bong Air Force Base

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image-width = 300
caption = Remains of Bong AFB, 14 April 2000


image2-width = 200
caption2 = Location of Richard Bong Air Force Base
IATA =
ICAO =
FAA =
type = Military
owner = United States Air Force
operator =
city-served =
location = Burlington, Wisconsin
elevation-f = 796
elevation-m = 242
coordinates = coord|42|37|34.28|N|088|9|36.21|W|type:airport|display=inline
website =
r1-number = 15/31
r1-length-f = 12,900
r1-length-m = 3,932
r1-surface = Concrete (Planned)
footnotes =

Richard Bong Air Force Base was the name of an unfinished Air Force Base built during the late 1950s. It was named after the famous aviator, Major Richard Ira Bong, of World War II fame.

History

Bong Air Force Base was conceived in 1955 to be an Aerospace Defense Command (ADC) interceptor base with the job of protecting the Milwaukee and Chicago areas from attack by Soviet bombers. The ADC 56th Fighter-Interceptor Group was scheduled to move to the base as soon as it was completed. [ [http://airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/464/883.xml AFHRA Document 00464883] ]

As part of Strategic Air Command's effort to disperse its bomber force, the base was transferred to SAC on June 5, 1957. It was then assigned to the Eighth Air Force and SAC's 4040th Air Base Squadron on August 1, 1958. The job of the 4040th was to provide housekeeping for the base. Bong Air Force Base was transferred to the Second Air Force on January 1, 1959. It is speculated that SAC intended to use the B-58 Hustler at Bong. On October 2, 1959, the convert|12900|ft|m|sing=on asphalt runway was just three days from having the concrete poured over it. That same day, all construction was halted. Bong Air Force Base was declared excess on August 23, 1960. Secretary of the Air Force James H. Douglas, Jr. later explained the decision to close Bong by saying:

"Finally we realized that by 1961-62 when Bong would be ready, we would have several other medium bomber bases empty of squadrons & we really don't need Bong."

The only military activity that ever occurred at Bong was the training of Special Forces units before they headed over to the Vietnam War.

Post Closure Usage

After it was closed, the base sat in disuse for many years. In 1974, the state of Wisconsin finally bought the convert|4515|acre|km2|sing=on site. It was then turned into a park, called Richard Bong State Recreation Area. It was the state's first recreation area.

References

External links

* [http://members.tripod.com/airfields_freeman/WI/Airfields_WI_SE.htm#bong Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:Southeastern Wisconsin]